keating



March 3, 1942- A. w. KEATING GARMENTGONVEYER Filed June 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 3, 1942. A W, KEATING 21,274,793

GARMENT coNvEYER Filed June 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E zo o EH u i o o 7 Ef if@ ALLEN W. KEA-rma,

A tomeys Patente-cl Mar. 3, 1942 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a conveyer mechanism especially adapted for moving garments along a given direction for the purpose of permitting operators stationed at opposite sides of said mechanism to easily and quickly cut or otherwise remove loose ends or portions of threads from the garments after said garments have been otherwise completed. The primary object of the invention is that the device will render such work easier and permit it to be carried out more thoroughly and in less time than heretofore.

A further object of this invention is the provision of means which will permit rapid manual application of the garments onto the conveyer and means for automatically releasing the garments after they have traveled a predetermined distance and during the distance of travel of said garments permits the operators to thoroughly and eiciently remove loose threads and ravels from the garments.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating a conveyer mechanism for the support and movement of garments over a predetermined course of movement and is constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevation illustrating the device.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure l is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a conveyer supporting construction including pairs of depending members B, said pairs of members being spaced a selected distance apart and have journaled on their lower ends sprocket gears 'I over which is trained an endless conveyer of the sprocket chain type as indicated at 8. The pairs of depending members are suitably secured to a ceiling of a room and are connected by a horizontally arranged platform 9 on which is mounted a power source II! of the electrical type for driving a reduction gear mechanism II of a conventional construction.

One of the pairs of depending members has i journaled thereon a sprocket gear l2 belted Ato the speed reducing mechanism II and also connected to one of the sprocket gears I through the use ofv an endless sprocket chain I3 whereby power is transmitted to the conveyer for driving the latter at a predetermined rate of speed. f

It is to be noted that the runs of the conveyer are disposed horizontally and secured to certain links thereof are pairs of spring inuenced clamps I4, each including pivoted jaws I5 having integral therewith handle portions I E engaged by spring members I'I. The jaws I5 are pivoted onto stems or shanks I8 suitably secured to the certain links of the conveyer. When the clamps are moving with the lower run yof the conveyer they are depending downwardly and spaced a selected distance apart so that garments may be readily applied to the lower run of the conveyer by adapting the clamps onto the neck or collarv portions of the garments. The garments are thus held in a depending position and will spread so that examination of the garments can be easily carried out during the movement of the garments from one end ofthe conveyer mechanism to the other end. During this inspection the operators positioned at opposite sides of the conveyer remove loose end threads and ravels from the garment so that the time the garment has completed its travel with the conveyer it is free of any loose threads or thread ends and as the garment reaches the end of the conveyer, clamp-engaging means I9 engage with the handles of the clamps and automatically release the garment for gravitation into a suitable collection device (not shown). The release mechanism I9 includes resilient curved members 20 between which the lower run of the conveyer l travels and when the handles of the clamps engage therewith the jaws of the clamps are spread apart thereby releasing the garment.

In operation one of the operators is stationed at one end of the conveyermechanism for the purpose of applying the garment to the conveyer and are suitably secured on the depending members.

A device of the character described and shown in the drawings will permit a less number of persons to thoroughly and efficiently examine and remove threads and the like from the garments than heretofore wherein each operator holds the garment While inspecting and removing threads therefrom.

It is believed that the foregoing description when taken in conection with the drawings will fully set forth the construction and advantages of this invention to those skilled in the art to which such device relates, so that further detailed description will not be required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In a garment conveyer for the manual inspection of garments, a horizontally arranged endless chain, sprockets spaced apart and over which the chain passes for supporting the chain in horizontal position, hangers supporting the sprockets, shanks extending outwardly at right angles from some of the links of the chain, said shanks being arranged in pairs with the shanks of each pair spaced apart a distance equal to the width of a part of a garment, each chain of each pair being located adjacent a shank of another pair and each shank having a cross member at its outer end and clamps connected with the shanks, the clamps of each pair holding the garment in spread out condition, each clamp including a handle part and a jaw part, each pair of clamps being pivotally connected to the ends of the cross member of a shank with the handles extending toward the link to which the shank is connected and the jaw parts extending outwardly from the cross member and springs connected with the cross member and engaging the handle part of the clamp for holding the jaw parts closed.

ALLEN W. KEATING. 

